Students in secondary schools are breaking for the August holiday. During the holiday, sedulous students strive to balance three things — home chores, personal study time and leisure. Let us get down to the brass tacks of wise use of August holiday.
Connect with your family
Holiday is the time to connect with family. Firstly, start by writing a thank you note to express an attitude of gratitude to your parents, guardians and sponsors. Also, help parents or guardians to attend to home chores. In case you know the way they make money, help them generate more moolah. This may make them find ways to defray school fees and get you academic materials with a lot of ease. Then, being in good terms with parents attracts the favour factor. Ephesians 6:1-3 admonishes children to honour their parents. For it is the first commandment with a promise — long life.
Find time to read ravenously
During the holiday, students should cultivate rich reading culture. How do they nurture the culture? By focusing on intensive and extensive reading. They should read notes. They should read core-course books. They should read class readers. They should read KCSE set texts. They should read how-to or self-help books. They should read reference books. They should read newspapers and magazines. This should happen for the umpteenth time. For Nassim Taleb observed, “A good book gets better at the second reading, a great book at the third reading. No book is quite the same when you read it again.” Actually, rich reading habit is a content mastery and memory enhancement strategy. By reading ravenously, they enrich their word banks. By reading avidly, they become better writers of imaginative compositions. Somehow, books are sources of interesting and intelligent conversations. Then, books boost creativity. Reading improves the attention and concentration span. Reading best books promote a good mood. Reading reduces stress. Reading expands the brain. Reading exposes learners to novelty. Reading adds glamour to one’s grammar.
Complete the assignments
As students break for holiday, teachers have issued shedloads of assignments. Making wise use of the holiday means that they do not take it as a total break from rigmarole of academic work. Students, more so Form Four candidates, should allot a lot of time to books. There is no need of wasting time on useless activities.
Compare notes with peers
During the holiday, it is possible to meet and greet peers from other schools. Advisedly, make it a habit to compare notes with them. Find out the Best Academic Practices you can borrow from them. Let there be positive peer influence — with a special focus on learning literate habits, hobbies, routines and rituals.
Engage in edutainment
Entertainment is important. Teens love life rife with fun. Things that make people laugh leave them in good mood. I am not writing to condemn such things. Albeit, I think that teens should choose edutainment instead of entertainment. Edutainment is entertainment plus education. Teens should choose music and movies that build character and enhance mental might. It is advisable to shun forms of entertainment that are dirty or encourage lassitude — mental laziness.
Make wise use of media
In the distant past, Malcolm X, observed, “Media is the greatest entity on earth. It has the power to make the innocent guilty and the guilty innocent.” Therefore, teens should make wise use of social sites. Students can receive or read useful materials on phone. They can attend lessons through zoom and Google meet. They can follow informative programmes aired on educative TV channels. They can use special sites such as YouTube to watch phenomenal speeches and documentaries. Likewise, they can spare some time to watch news during prime time to keep abreast with the current affairs. Also, to boost their linguistic competence and confidence.
Participate in church activities
During the holiday, purpose-driven churches organise mentorship programmes in form of seminars, conferences and camps. It is important to attend such meetings and learn. Teens should attend church services to enhance your intimacy with God. Participate in church charitable programmes hence learn to be kind, empathetic and altruistic. Attend missions organised by the church.
Unleash your full potential
Talent is in-born ability. Gift is divine-driven ability. Skill is an acquired ability. During the brief holiday, students should nurture their talents, lift their gifts and hone their skills. In Proverbs 18:16, we read: “A man’s gift makes room for him and brings him before great men.” Alongside hard skills they learn in school, they should use the holiday to develop soft skills, life skills, 21st century skills, transferable skills, employability skills and people skills.
Learn from right role models and mentors
Role models are people you can ape due to admirable qualities they evince. Mentors on the other hand, are trusted people who are more experienced in life that can inspire you to achieve your dreams in life. We read that from a heroic book titled Unstoppable: Achieving Excellence and Beyond, co-authored by Rosemary Kibui and Timothy Kipchumba. Sometimes, young people mess and miss the mark because of wrong choice of role models and mentors. Life is a journey, not a destination.
Therefore, if you want to know the way, ask those who are coming back. Laurent D. Daloz got it right, “Mentors are guides; they lead us a long a journey of our lives, we trust them because they have been there before us.”
YOU MAY ALSO READ:
Ways a conducive environment can be created for learning in schools
By Victor Ochieng
You can also follow our social media pages on Twitter: Education News KE and Facebook: Education News Newspaper for timely updates.
>>> Click here to stay up-to-date with trending regional stories
>>> Click here to read more informed opinions on the country’s education landscape
